At Chilton Academy, we have place children’s Social and Emotional well-being as a high priority. All staff have training on supporting children with attachment difficulties and work closely with professionals across school and from external services to ensure individual needs are met.
We are lucky to have a Social, Emotional and Well-being practitioner three afternoons a week providing bespoke support to individuals and small groups to help them deal with challenges they may come across in their daily lives. Some pupils access this support over a number of years whereas others may need only one or two intense sessions. Support for parents is also provided with feedback and advice on the further support required outside of school time. Close liaison with school staff ensures the support can continue throughout a school week.
In Key Stage 2 we have the ‘Place to Belong’. This is a classroom where Social and Emotional Wellbeing in central to its layout and the activities provided. This is a safe space for children to access throughout the school day where children can be given support by experienced members of staff or peer mentors and mediators.
The School Sports Organising Crew are pivotal in supporting the SEMH of pupils. This group of Year 5 and Year 6 children organise a range of sporting events for pupils during unstructured times. This not only engages pupils with high quality activity it helps children to engage socially with their peers, achieve success and have a positive lunchtime experiences.
Some pupils display very challenging behaviours as a result of a number of Social and Emotional Needs. Strategies used include time out areas in each class, timers to aide regulation, personal timetables and task cards and, when required, withdrawal to the ‘Place to Belong’.